Passports awaiting Rwandans after loss of refugee status

Hundreds of Rwandan returnees from regional neighbours have been streaming into the country on a daily basis ahead of the June 30 deadline

An intense registration program is under way to provide passports for tens of thousands of Rwandans who lost refugee status on June 30 as a result of the UN cessation clause, but prefer to stay in the host countries.

The activation of the clause concerning Rwandan refugees means that Rwandans who fled the country between 1959 and 1998 have lost their refugee status across the world, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. In 2009, after many field visits, UNHCR concurred with the government that Rwanda was stable and safe. It was decided after consultation with key stakeholders and host countries, which all validated the strategy, that cessation would come into effect in 2013.

Government officials in Kigali said Tuesday that they are ready to receive any number of returnees. Minister of Refugee Affairs, Seraphine Mukantabana said that passport application forms had been sent to all Rwandan embassies abroad or in the institutions in charge of refugees in countries that host Rwandan refugees so that the process of acquiring Rwandan passports would be speeded up.

â€œWe have done everything possible to facilitate the process for refugees,â€ said Mukantabana at a press conference. â€œThey can either choose to return home and Rwanda is doing everything we possibly can to facilitate this. Refugees can also choose if they have economic and personal ties in the countries of host, to remain there and become naturalised. In this case, Rwanda is ready to facilitate them with passports so they can join the community of Rwandans living abroad.â€

Neimah Warsame, UNHCR Representative in Rwanda, congratulated the government for facilitating both returning refugees and those who will choose to remain in host countries. â€œI salute the countryâ€™s leadership for availing passports for those who will remain in host countries and remaining engaged in the process. We had extensive consultations with stakeholders and all host countries have revalidated their agreement with cessation. We also want to assure everyone that UNHCR undertakes comprehensive monitoring to make sure all refugees are properly reintegrated and what we have seen is promising. Local leaders are taking care of returnees.â€

Neimah Warsame, UNHCR Representative in Rwanda, congratulated the government for facilitating both returning refugees and those who will choose to remain in host countries.

â€œWe also want to assure everyone that UNHCR undertakes comprehensive monitoring to make sure all refugees are properly reintegrated and what we have seen is promising. Local leaders are taking care of returnees,â€ said Warsame.

Over the weekend 170 refugees returned from the DRC and indicated that many more wish to return and will need facilitation. The DRC, where the largest number of Rwandan refugees live, has asked for three months to be able to assess the number of Rwandan refugees in the country. From there, discussions will begin on repatriation and local integration options.

Other countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi have already indicated that they are ready to apply cessation and have set up local integration mechanisms.

Uganda has 4000 and Congo Brazzaville has 8000 refugees that fall under cessation criteria. They are currently in discussions with Rwanda on the way forward.

To date, more than three million Rwandans have returned post genocide. It is estimated that about 100,000 Rwandan refugees remain around the world.

â€œThe process does not happen overnight, implementation of cessation can take a year or more but what is certain, we are proud that Rwandans today do not have to be called refugees and we encourage all refugees to make their choice to either return or seek local integration options,â€ said Minister Mukantabana.